N Wennarae and goby

[danskim]

I've had my N Wennarae alone for a long time, but now I want to make his house a pico-reef.
He mostly stays inside his home except during feeding time. I'd say he's 1.5" long.

Dr. Caldwell,
Do you think it'd be bad for the shrimp if I added a little Caribbean goby like a Rusty Goby, Bridled Goby, Neon Goby or even a Royal Gramma?
These fish are very docile and small.

Would the shrimp attack the fish?

 

[Giga]

You could try but I've have seen smasher mantis attack fish and eat them so who know. I guess just make sure you mantis has been fed well. I wouldn't chance it becuase sometime they just love to hit things for target practice.

 

[danskim]

Yeah, I guess I realize it's always a possibility.
Although I know I'd never stick anything with my O. Scyllarus.

 

[Giga]

Check this out It's been done

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsjtdIQ4KqY&NR=1

 

[Thurge]

My N.wennera enjoyed a nice Yellow Watchmen Gobie for dinner. IN the interest of full disclosure the gobie was very small and the mantis was full grown, but still....

 

[DanInSD]

I think that any bottom-dwelling fish is BAD. Ones that I have kept successfully with mantis include damsels and clown gobies (which like to "perch" higher up on the rockwork).

By the way, I would not classify the Royal Gramma as "docile". They can be downright nasty. When I think docile, I think about things like fire gobies (another possibility...), dragonettes (bad...), etc.

 

[Pea-brain]

Richard from TBS claims to keep gobies with mantises all the time, supposedly with very few losses.

Dan

 

[75Gallons]

Some Gobiid fish form mutualistic partnerships with mantis shrimp similar to the one they have with Alpheids I've never seen it myself but just read about it. The bottom line is you never know until you try. The chemical cues they give each other will decide whether the goby lives or dies!

 

[danskim]

I think you're referring to pistol shrimps, not mantis shrimps.

 

[75Gallons]

No I'm referring to mantis shrimp and gobies. Pistols shrimp = Alpheid family. I did a Master's Thesis about alpheids/Gobiids and somewhere in the billions of papers i was forced to read i saw a blurb about a mantis/goby relationship. Like i said though I never saw it only read it.

 

[danskim]

Oh, my mistake. That's cool. Perhaps I'll try to look into it.

 

[Pea-brain]

I have trouble imagining the gobies job in that reltionship. If anything it most likely won't have better eyes, no hunting skill really, no burrowing skills, no cleaning skills.....I have heard of relationships between cleaner shrimp and large spearers in the wild though.

Dan

 

[75Gallons]

I agree completely there are a million cases of relationships that are either newly discovered or are being studied to understand the nature of the relationship. Gobiid fish have mutualistic relationships with an extremely wide range of marine organisms. Some are a lot easier to imagine han others.

 

[yiliyang]

My wannerea ate a six lined wrasse. I did not see the fish being killed, but the fish was fairly healthy so I would assume it was killed. You better not risk it.

Yili